Six ways to protect your business against a cyber attack every day – not just in October

Although beginning of November marks the end of Cyber Security Awareness Month, it is vital businesses protect themselves against an attack every day – not just in October when alertness is high.

Cyber criminality is here to stay and will evolve as those that seek to counter threats develop.

Effective cyber risk mitigation and becoming hard to hack requires a comprehensive and resourced cyber security programme that has been designed to track and evolve to meet with the cyber threats of today and the future. This takes consideration, planning and investment.

There are a number of cyber security management frameworks available to assist with the implementation of a cyber risk governance. However, to keep things clear, simple and manageable, it is suggested you focus on addressing the following areas.

1.???Understand your cyber resilience

All businesses should undertake a cyber assurance and maturity assessment to understand their cyber resilience and where their risk and vulnerabilities lie. These can then be prioritised and addressed in accordance with the greatest threat.

2.???Create a hard to hack company culture

While your team is your biggest strength, it is also an area of great vulnerability.

Your team will have multiple devices in their possession that have trusted access to your digital networks. You need to protect against their errors, accidents and, sadly, occasionally, their malicious acts.

This is mitigated by selecting the right team in the first place and training them how to recognise threats and attacks, and how to use their electronic devices appropriately.

Consider a service like Crew Check to carry out deep and thorough background checks and the Cyber Licence to ensure a consistent level of cyber security awareness training.

3.???Secure your supply chain

It is easy to assume every one of your suppliers takes its cyber security seriously. However, this is never guaranteed.

According to the Verizon 2021 data breach investigations report, which analysed data from more than 29,000 incidents, 94% of cyber attacks are delivered by email. Suppliers have trusted access to your inboxes and can be used as a proxy to access your networks.

With this in mind, you should insist on conducting supplier due diligence as a condition of entering into any contract. This is fast becoming the norm across all sectors and a requirement of the UK’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

I talk through the final three tips – securing your business against technical cyber attacks, making sure you’re prepared to respond, and mitigating unanticipated posts – on our website: https://cssassure.com/six-ways-to-protect-your-business-against-a-cyber-attack-every-day-not-just-in-october